Khan A.Z.,Fatima Jinnah Medical College Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan | Year: 2013

Objective: To identify the non-academic attributes developed during 5 years of training in medical school. Study Design: Sequential mixed method. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted on final year medical students of four medical colleges in the city of Lahore, from March to September 2010. Methodology: Probability random sampling was employed to identify public sector medical colleges for inclusion in the study through Lottery method. In the first phase, survey was done with the help of questionnaires, distributed amongst 280 students, selected on the basis of convenience sampling. It was triangulated with data collected by in-depth structured interviews on 46 students selected using purposive sampling after formal informed consent. For quantitative data percentages of the categorical variables were calculated through SPSS version 10. For qualitative data, themes and patterns were identified using Content Analysis technique. Results: Majority of the medical students (80%) learn the attributes of integrity, self-reliance, tolerance and independence during their schooling. Sixty five percent students thought that the values of humanity, forbearance, righteous attitude in face of adversities and sympathetic behaviour towards peers and patients helped them in being better medical students. Thirty five percent said they faced the negative influences of gender bias and gender discrimination which has led to their impaired professional growth. Eighty percent of the students believe that the teaching methodology employed is teacher centric which does not let them become problem solvers, team players, reflective learners and hampers development of effective communication skills. Conclusion: Medical schooling in our part of the world helps in developing untaught attributes such as integrity, selfreliance, tolerance, independence, sympathetic attitude and good communication skills which are the same as are developed in the medical students of advanced countries, which can be fostered further by formally addressing them in the curriculum.
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Naeem S.,Lahore Medical College | Bukhari M.H.,Fatima Jinnah Medical College Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan | Year: 2015

Objective: To analyze the expression of various antigens on the leukemic blasts and to determine the hematological parameters, in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) patients at presentation. Study Design: Observational study. Place and Duration of Study: King Edward Medical University, Lahore and Hameed Latif Hospital, Lahore, from February2013 to March 2014. Methodology: A total of 50 newly diagnosed and untreated patients of ALL were selected from Mayo Hospital and Hameed Latif Hospital. These patients included both genders and all age groups. Hemoglobin, total leukocyte count and platelet count were determined on hematology analyser-Sysmex-Kx-2I. Blast cell percentage was estimated on Giemsa stained blood smears. Immunophenotyping was done on bone marrow samples by 5 colour flowcytometery on Beckman Coulter Navious Flowcytometer. An acute leukemia panel of 23 antibodies was used. The data was entered and analyzed in SPSS version 22. Results: Of the 50 ALL patients, 36 (72%) were B-ALL and 14 (28%) T-ALL. There were 18 (36%) children and 32 (64%) adults. T-ALL included 22% of the childhood and 31% of the adult cases. Immunophenotypic analysis showed that CD19, CD79a and CD20 were B-lineage specific markers whereas cCD3, CD3 and CD5 were T-lineage specific. CD10 was the most sensitive marker for B-ALL and CD7 was the most sensitive marker of T-ALL. TdT was expressed in 92% B-ALL and 71% T-ALL cases, CD34 in 58% and 43% cases and CD45 in 83% and 100% respectively. High leukocyte count (> 50 x 109/L) was present in 58% cases. Hemoglobin was < 10 g/dl in 74% patients and platelet count was below 20 × 109/L in 12% patients. Leukocyte count, hemoglobin, platelet count and blast cell % did not show a significant difference in the two ALL immunotypes. Conclusion: The frequency of T-ALL is higher in childhood as well as adult ALL in our population compared to the Western literature. Antigenic expression of the blast cells also shows some interesting differences. A large number of our patients present with high leukocyte count which is a known factor associated with poor prognosis.
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Osteoporosis has emerged a major health hazard in postmenopausal women. The process of osteoporosis accelerates two year prior to menopause, reaching the peak level during first 3 years of menopause when women loss 3 (see symbol) 5% of their bone mass per year. This study tried to find out the role of phytoestrogne in improving the bone mineral density and bone related biochemical parameters in group of postmenopausal women. Fifty postmenopausal women with age range 50 (see symbol) 60 years were included in the study. Phytoestrogen with mineral supplement were given twice daily for 3 months. Biochemical parameters like serum calcium, magnesium, alkaline phosphatase, uric acid, total protein and oestrogen were determined before and after phytoestrogen therapy by autoanalyser and ELIZA (oestrogen assay). T-score before and after phytoestrogen were find out by densitometer DEXA. The level of serum calcium, magnesium, uric acid and oestrogen was increased in women after taking phytoestrogen but significant difference (p < 0.01) was only observed in case of serum calcium. Level of serum alkaline phosphatase and total serum protein were slightly increased with no significant different before and after phytoestrogen therapy. Value of T-score was although markedly decreased after phytoestrogen therapy but it showed no significant difference. It is concluded that as the early years of menopause are a period of rapid bone loss, and the risk for osteoporosis increases substantially, the habitual intake of soy protein and isoflavones may play a role in the retardation of bone loss.
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